Endless hugs

You don't know how glad I am to finally be back writing. I comfortably placed myself in bed, took a computer in my arms, and my head was again able to immerse itself in the spheres of human sexuality. I missed this part so much, even though I hadn't caressed any sexual thoughts for the past two weeks.  

Due to all other obligations, I was forced to skip working on the website. I barely felt anything sexual in myself, except maybe a few minutes a day when I read something about the role of the pelvic floor in the yoga teacher's manual or when I glanced at the chapter on the sexual chakra. On Saturday, D-day finally arrived, when I could pour this knowledge on paper, lead the most essential yoga class in my life, and be able to return to the pelvic floor muscles again, this time from a slightly different perspective.  

Since every cell in my body hurt, my head has not yet come to masturbation, let alone the topic of sex. Those brain cells still working for me at eleven in the evening stopped when they got to cuddling. At that point, that's exactly what I wished to be doing. I would give in to it whole, especially if it were charged with sexual energy, even if I would never get further than first base because I would be rocked into a sweet sleep sooner.  

Why do people crave cuddling, even if we reject it outwardly as a romantic gesture that puts us in a vulnerable position? I am not a big fan of hugging, not at all with people who are not very close to me, but these problems disappear when I am dressed in bed with someone who is my person. I crave this way of spending evenings because it is cold, but cuddling also has other advantages that easily cause us to want it badly.  

One of them, and probably the best, is reducing stress and anxiety. Imagine a hard day at work, a mountain of errands, some unnecessary tense conversation with your mother, and all you want is a bed, television, and endless hugs. If they are real, you can feel the stress melting and running away. This is because cuddling triggers the secretion of oxytocin. Physical touch causes the levels of this hormone to rise. The heart rhythm lowers, and blood pressure and cortisol levels, too. The latter is the most common reason why we are wide awake at 1 am in the morning. However, if it is overcome by oxytocin, we can fall asleep like a baby.  

Cuddling not only affects the secretion of oxytocin, but physical touch also triggers endorphins, which are natural "painkillers" that reduce tension in the body and make us fall asleep. Then there is the parasympathetic nervous system, which I have heard a lot about in the last year during the yoga teacher course. I did not know, however, that in addition to breathing techniques, cuddling also activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms us down.

Even before, during, or after sex, the same hormones are triggered, which are somehow to blame for us feeling connected to our partner. They fill us with a sense of joy and help the couple to avoid stress. We feel safe and valued in a relationship that involves a lot of cuddling.  

Some research says that cuddling even helps with colds. Although the other person is then the last person on the list of people you would like to have beside you, or he is also completely superfluous to socialize with someone who lies in bed buried under a mountain of snorted handkerchiefs, it is good to cuddle while fighting colds. Apparently, this should prevent the symptoms of the disease from getting worse. If we were clairvoyant, we could also prevent colds with regular hugs.  

Although it is not about sex, the topic of infinitely long hugs was just what I needed. Like a bandage on a wound after a long period of spending evenings in bed with a thick folder of yoga papers. Well, the exam is under the roof, and now I will head off to new victories by squeezing pillows and vibrators. And remember the benefits of infinitely long hugs.